hero-img

Look out for #34

20 Aug 2014
Dahlgren's Valvoline Volvo to run bold door number, following suit from #33 at Queensland Raceway.
3 mins by James Pavey
Advertisement

Fans responded positively to Scott McLaughlin's giant NASCAR-style '33' at Queensland Raceway, and at this weekend's Sydney Motorsport Park the second Volvo will follow suit.

Robert Dahlgren will have '34' emblazoned on the side of his S60 - something team boss Garry Rogers says was always the plan.

"To me, it's just not correct to have a racing car without a number - it's like having a racehorse without a number," Rogers told v8supercars.com.au.

"It was always the intention to be on both cars, but when we did the 33 we were running out of time.... I never intended just to have it on the one car, I always meant to have it on both. And you'll notice that our truck has also got a great big number on the side of it too.

"We're in the entertainment business, and the excitement business ... It just adds to what we're doing, I think. To know it's a race car, and not just a car with a pretty colour on it."

While many teams used to run numbers on the side of the car, it has never been a necessity in V8 Supercar racing - and Rogers acknowledged it was phased out to make room for sponsor signage. However, he believes door numbers have a place in motorsport nonetheless.

"I think that's what people over the years have come to look at and expect, and I think that the decisions (not to have numbers) were made with the best of intentions to give sponsors more signage on the cars, therefore that was the space.

"I've perhaps exaggerated it a bit with the size of our numbers, but while we've got the space to do it - it's about excitement."

In addition to the number on the side of the car, this weekend the Volvos will run signage on the bonnet recognising the Cure Brain Cancer Foundation, as they did at the last outing at Sydney Motorsport Park, the pre-season test in February.

Advertisement

A charity Volvo has worked closely with - and raised over $1 million for, announced earlier this month.

"It's a charity we support where possible, one we think is for a good cause and obviously we are still endeavoring to sell sponsorship signage - but while we've got it available, we would like to utilise it for this particular charity," Rogers said.

And while there may be new stickers on the car we can see - post-test at Winton, are there any new 'go fast' bits on the Volvos we can't see for this weekend's round?

"We were happy with our test day," was all Rogers would say.

"Testing can be very frustrating because you spend a lot of time and energy, and sometimes come away from there thinking, what have I do or achieved?

"I think this particular week we had a process of activities we wanted to try and test and we got through all of those, which is most unusual because normally your wishlist comes up short.

"We had the time, we were organised, we did it well and I think for us what we got out of it certainly was a positive - not just for the next meeting but ongoing activities we are trying to get on top of."

Neither McLaughlin or Dahlgren have raced a V8 Supercar at the circuit, but McLaughlin was positive about attempting the 3.91km trackfor the first time.

Related News

Advertisement